The Client and Brief

The Director of Estates is a senior officer at the University of Oxford and holds a pivotal position, providing strategic leadership and overseeing the efficiency, effectiveness, growth and success of their Estates Management services. Reporting to the Registrar, the new postholder will work closely and in collaboration with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) and the Chair of the Building and Estates Sub-Committee.  

The Director will engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, both internal and external to the university and will lead the University’s overall relationship management of the estates supply chain.  The Director will be responsible for the development and implementation of the ambitious Estate Strategy in line with the broader institutional strategy including their transformational sustainability agenda.

Overcoming Challenges

The current Director of Estates had been at the university for over a decade and is renowned throughout the sector, so the bar was set high. The role is also with a leading Russell Group institution with a significant medical research-based campus who have been ranked the 1st in the global league rankings for the past nine years. 

Our Process

We ran a dual campaign of an advertised solution via LinkedIn and jobs.ac.uk in conjunction with  targeted search approaches to estates leaders across higher education, pharma, life sciences and the wider public sectors such as local government and the NHS. The target market also included Real Estate and landed occupiers in the private sector. 

The Outcome

The successful candidate was operating in a similar senior leadership capacity with another Russell Group institution with a track record of presiding over comparable complex and diverse capital projects which included the Molecular Science Building, Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and Institute of Translational Medicine. They also possessed a noteworthy background in delivering cutting-edge sustainability solutions with a Siemens led Smart Campus. 

The Campaign in Numbers

3225
Flipingbook views
238
formal applications
25
Long-list candidates
9
short-list candidates
5
candidates formally interviewed